The War in Ukraine

[HavokFour]

Zelenskyy saying what a lot of us have been thinking.

Russia using 'shadow fleet' tankers to launch drones towards European cities, Zelensky says

Russia's so-called "shadow fleet" of oil tankers are being used to "launch and control" Russian drones over European cities, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sept. 28, citing intelligence reports.

kyivindependent.com

Russian morale is at an all time low with some of the stuff that's been circulating.

 

[CBH99]

Dug in towed also has the advantage of the crew can take cover during counter battery, and the ammo is usually stored in a pit several meters away. Meaning if the gun isnt in use, the crew likely will survive a strike. Same cant be said for a spg in all situations

Makes perfect sense.

Like @Czech_pivo said earlier, the whole thing just seemed counterintuitive at first.



I had honestly thought of towed artillery as a relic of the past after this conflict kicked off - thinking "shoot n' scoot" was the only way to go w/ counter-battery radars proliferating somewhat.

Guess I was mistaken

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Makes perfect sense.

Like @Czech_pivo said earlier, the whole thing just seemed counterintuitive at first.



I had honestly thought of towed artillery as a relic of the past after this conflict kicked off - thinking "shoot n' scoot" was the only way to go w/ counter-battery radars proliferating somewhat.

Guess I was mistaken

You were not alone

 

[Kirkhill]

You were not alone

Apparently a positional army fights differently than one that manoeuvres

 

[MilEME09]

Apparently a positional army fights differently than one that manoeuvres

It shows we need to have the knowledge to do both

 

[YZT580]

It shows we need to have the knowledge to do both

and the equipment to do both with and it would appear that both systems need to be present and available for use simultaneously.

 

[Kirkhill]

Both sword and shield?

 

[HavokFour]

First oil & gas, now power plants are in the crosshairs.

This was reportedly the work of HIMARS.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1972339228299362780

Just in time because winter is already knocking at the door.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1972242831575060487

 

[KevinB]

How many targets can ground based air systems manage?

Depends on the system in question. Some can store thousands and prioritize the targeting using AI/ML (also use to sort decoys etc). While others have very low numbers of management/detection. Advanced systems can been networked across the globe, and can rely on multiple inputs and then feed targeting / launch data to multiple platforms as well as different launch systems.

Once they shoot are they now a known location to be targeted?

Depends on the type of system and the hostile sensors. But generally that is why GBAD positions are networked and the launchers away from the radars. It’s also why several different types of detection/targeting systems are used in AD networks.

Systems that use a singular position or vehicle for both acquiring and engaging targets using active radar are a target the entire time they illuminated the target for engagement.
Those are fairly rare now outside the VSHORAD domain.

But any system that requires active radar to paint a target for engagement will be visible the entire time it is guiding a missile or gun.

Do you need to destroy all the AD systems in the area or just knocking out key parts enough?

Depends on the threat systems. Some systems can be out of commission if you hit the C&C and/or the Radar base. S-300 and S-400 are good examples of that - and Ukraine has released enough embarrassing footage of SEAD Russian AD systems showing fairly ineffectual systems being plinked like flies by UAS that one doesn’t need to be read in to classified information to see how vulnerable non redundant sensor networks are to AD systems.

Do you need to only focus a specific location to achieve superiority in a specific axis of combat zone allowing your maneuver forces to advance and leave the fortified areas?

Again it is situationally dependent on the enemy, and your own forces.

These are all questions I have, I am not well versed on any of this stuff, only very very basic understanding of any of it. Ukraine and Russia aren't exactly great examples for air warfare. Both were primarily relying on a limited amount of 30+ year old aircraft which wasn't made to as high a standard/quality/capability as the NATO planes to begin with.

Another reason why in a lot of cases the Rus/Ukr conflict isn’t a good goalpost to determine what could work in a NATO v XXXXX scenario.